?I?m not important enough to kill. It?s stupid.?
?That?s got nothing to do with it,? Mike said. ?You saw something. Now you have to die. You?re dust that needs to be swept under the rug. You?re just a chore left undone, and somebody someplace can?t rest easy until all the chores are done.?
?I won?t tell anyone anything. I don?t know anything.?
?They don?t know that, and they don?t care. When this purple leg breaker doesn?t report in, they?ll send somebody else.?
Andrew went pale. He?d hoped it was over. ?What do we do??
?I have to think. In the meantime, if there?s anything else you haven?t told me, I need to know. You?re my brother?s boy. I?m going to help you, but if you hold out on me again, I?m going to bury you in the woods right next to this guy. You understand??
?Yes.?
?Good. Now get his keys.?
Andrew winced, but went through Mars?s pockets and found the keys. ?Are we going to go get his car??
?Yes, but first things first. Grab his feet. We?re going to bury him.?
?Now? Out there? In the dark??
?You want to sleep with this dead guy in the house all night??
Andrew grabbed his legs and lifted. They carried him down past the barn, picking up shovels and flashlights on the way. They went about a quarter mile down the hill, and Mike signaled for them to drop the body. They dug. The ground was full of rocks and it took them over an hour to carve out a shallow two-foot-deep grave. They dumped Mars into it.
By the time they finished covering it up, both of them were breathing hard.
?I?ll come back in the daylight and bury him deeper,? Mike said. ?I?m too damn tired now.?
The walk back up the hill was a bitch.
When they got back to the cabin, Andrew wanted only to flop onto the couch.
?We?re not done yet.? Mike jingled Mars?s car keys.
They drove Mike?s truck to where Mars?s Caddy was parked, and Mike handed Andrew the keys. ?Follow me back. We?ll search it in the morning, then dump it somewhere.?
Mike looked spectral by the yellow-orange of the dashboard lights. Before he got out of the truck, Andrew said, ?Look, I know you didn?t ask for this. I know it was a surprise. But thanks. Thanks for helping me.?
A long pause, then Mike said, ?I failed your father, Andrew. We were a team and I couldn?t hack it anymore so I ran. I left him holding the bag. I won?t do the same to you. I couldn?t be there for your old man, but I?m here for you.?
?He never told me that he blamed you for anything,? Andrew said.
A wan smile. ?He wouldn?t. But he always thought we had a good thing going. When Mom and Dad died we were everything to each other, the Foley Boys. I let him down. I know I did. He didn?t have to say a thing. I knew what he was thinking.?
?You wanted to go straight.?
?No.? Mike shook his head. ?It would be easy to say that. That would make me sound like a good guy, wouldn?t it? Fact is, I just lost my nerve.?
Andrew didn?t know what to say to that.
He got out of the truck and climbed behind the wheel of the Caddy. It was a big car. The top was down. He cranked the ignition. He found the headlights, put the car into gear, and followed his uncle back to the house.
